Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

Although she was 96 years old, it was still a shock to hear the sad news last week that the queen had died. For 70 years she reigned over The United Kingdom and its Commonweath realms. As widely reported, she was the longest reigning female head of state in history.

I thought this would be a perfect time to share a few facts about this widely respected and admired former monarch.

- Net worth. Her estimated net worth was around £370,000,000. This mainly came from investments, jewels and property.

- Film. The Queen has been portrayed in over 200 films, documentaries and theatre productions. Actresses who have played The Queen include, Helen Mirren, Olivia Colman, Claire Foy and Emma Thompson.

- Dogs. Her love the 'Corgi' breed started in the 1930's when her father, King George VI got one. Over her lifetime, Queen Elizabeth had more than 30 corgis, most of which were descendants from her first corgi, Susan, who was a gift for her 18th birthday in 1944.

- Two birthdays. The Queen was born on April 26th 1926, but her official birthday was commemorated on the second Saturday in June. This tradition was started in 1748 by King George II. He was born in November and due to the weather not being good at that time of the year for public celebrations, decided to have a second birthday during the summer.

- Relations. She was actually related to her husband Prince Philip. They were third cousins,as they were both great-great grandchildren of Queen Victoria.

- Education. She never went to school. She was always educated by private tutors.

- She was never expected to be queen. For the first 10 years of her life, Princess Elizabeth was a relatively minor royal—but that all changed with the death of her grandfather, King George V in 1936. The next in the line of royal succession was Elizabeth’s uncle, Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne less than a year after taking it so that he could marry a divorced American called Wallis Simpson. Edward didn’t have any children at the time, so his brother Albert (Elizabeth’s father) came to the throne, taking the name George VI and making the then-10-year-old Elizabeth the first in line to become Queen.

Identification - She was never required to have a driving licence, although she was allowed to drive. Also, as The Queen, she also never needed a passport, "as a British passport is issued in the name of Her Majesty". All other members of the royal family have to have one.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. There are many others, covering different subjects, so when you have a spare few minutes why not pick out another to read.

Until next time....

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